


golden eyes and angel wings

by starsandroses



Series: golden eyes and angel’s wings verse [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Body Horror, Cemeteries, Deceit Sanders Has a Different Name, Halloween!!!, M/M, Magic, Magic AU, Rituals, Soulmate AU, Witchcraft, Witchcraft AU, bringing back the dead, do not try this a home, guardian angel! roman, humans logan and virgil, it's declan, minor desecration of a grave, spells, this took me years to write, witch! deceit, witch! patton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 05:02:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21247883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsandroses/pseuds/starsandroses
Summary: Logan and Virgil, worried that they are being haunted, reached out to local psychics for help and get much more than they bargained for





	golden eyes and angel wings

********“If you’re becoming anxious, we can leave.”

Virgil stopped pulling on his jacket sleeve and glanced over his friend. “‘M fine.”

  
“Remember what your therapist told you about lying about feeling anxious?” Logan said, pushing his glasses back up. He put the book he was reading to the side and focused his full attention on Virgil. “Would you like to go through one of your breathing patterns?”

  
“I’m not actually that anxious, Lo. I think I’ll be fine when we’re able to talk to this guy, waiting is just driving me batshit crazy. Besides, I wanna know if we’re actually being haunted.”

  
Logan sighed, leaning back in his chair. “I’m still skeptical, but we both saw the apparition. Folie à Deux-”

  
“-what does that mean? It sounds like French. I dropped out of French during my first week of freshman year. In high school.” Virgil interrupted. 

  
“It is French. It translates to ‘Madness of Two’ and is the term for when two people have the same hallucination. It is extremely rare.”

  
“But it can’t be that,” Virgil said, pulling down on his sleeve. “I’ve seen him before. Before I even met you. I used to get into a lot of bad shit- you know that. And he’s always appeared.”

  
“I have seen him before I met you as well. While I don’t have your, ah, track record for trouble, I have gotten myself into a few situations. And just when it seemed like I was going to be hurt, the apparition has appeared.”

  
“So it can’t be double hallucinations. Oh god. What if we’re actually being haunted?” Virgil asked, his heart starting to beat a bit faster. 

  
“If we are, the spirit doesn’t appear to have malicious intentions. Besides, that is why we’re here. These are the best psychics in the state.” Logan sighed again, this time deeper and more dramatically. “I cannot believe have been driven to such an extreme that I need to rely on psychics for assistance.”

  
“We’re probably being haunted, L. I don’t think you can science your way out of this one.” Virgil was still pulling his hoodie sleeve, his eyes betraying his nerves. Logan reached over and gently pulled Virgil's hand away from his jacket. Virgil glanced down at where Logan was holding his hand. 

  
“We will be okay, Virgil,” Logan promised, his voice soft and barely a whisper. Virgil’s cheeks were flushing a soft pink, and Logan’s face is starting to heat-

  
“Well isn't this touching.” A dry voice said. Virgil and Logan pulled apart in seconds, faces much brighter than they had been only seconds before. The commenter was a man standing in the doorway. He wore black pants tucked into black boots. A black cloak was wrapped around his shoulders, clipped into place with a golden ouroboros pin, the snake’s eyes seeming to gleam against the metal. It’s wearer's eyes gleam too, in two different shades of brown. The man’s right was a warm shade of caramel, and the other was almost gold. It was a bit unnerving, but then again, maybe that was the point. 

  
The man was a psychic, after all. 

  
Logan stood, and offered his hand to the other. “I’m Logan Cosmos. This is my friend Virgil Tempest. You must be Declan, the psychic I talked with on the phone.”

  
“The correct term is witch.” Declan corrected with a sigh. Logan opened his mouth to speak, probably to contradict the man and claim that witchcraft wasn’t real, but Virgil kicked him in the ankle. 

  
“Right, he’s sorry for that. He’s a bit skeptical about this whole thing.”

  
Declan flashed Virgil a crooked grin. “Oh, he doesn’t have to believe. It’s much more fun when they don’t.”

  
That wasn’t foreboding or anything.

  
The witch gestured to the doorway he’d entered from, and began to walk away. Virgil and Logan made eye contact, argued without speaking about the pros and cons of running away while they still could, decided to stay, then followed Declan. 

  
Declan led them through a twisted hallway, and to a black door. The door opened, and the witch flashed them a grin. “Step inside.”

  
Virgil looked at the room, took a breath and shoved his anxieties away as he stepped through the doorway. Logan closed his eyes for a brief second, like he was questioning his entire existence, and followed Virgil into the room. Declan shut the door behind him and he followed his clients inside.

  
The room was lit by candles and an old piece of black lace covered the desk in the center. The smell of sage floated in the air and the crystals decorating the room gleamed in the candlelight. Black curtains covered the windows and old books were piled on a shelf in the corner.

  
Declan threw himself into the chair on the far side of the desk. He propped his feet up and gestured at the two chairs across from him. “Take a seat and tell me all about your little ghost problem.”

  
Virgil sat down, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Logan sat down next to him, reaching out to place his hand on the other’s shoulder, but decided against it.   
“I think I saw him first,” Virgil said. “ I was sixteen, and, well, I didn’t exactly hang with the best crowd-” 

  
“-I can tell. Your aura reeks of past violence- little patches of black in the violet.” The witch mused, leaning his head against his hand. “You've healed, for the most part, but sometimes you still have nightmares, hmm?”

  
Virgil visibly flinched. “How- wait, never mind. Psychic- Witch, I mean- right. But yeah, I really screwed myself over when I was younger. I finally got my ass handed to me, and I genuinely thought I was going to die-”

  
“-Virgil, you do not need to bring up your past trauma. I know it pains you.” Logan interrupted, almost reaching out to comfort Virgil, but retracted his hand again. 

  
“I’m good L. We need to get to the bottom of this, so he needs to know the story.” Virgil refocused on Declan. “Anyway, I was being chased, and I ducked into an alley. I curled up into a ball and shut my eyes. I knew I was going to be found- I was trying to protect myself as much as I could. Cover the head and all that. But the hits never came. I opened my eyes and saw him. A boy kneeling over me, hiding me with glowing white wings from the outside world. The guys following me ran right past me, not even noticing the glowing boy. I was so freaked out, I didn’t move. But soon enough, the boy sensed me staring at him. He turned around, and I saw golden eyes and a bright grin before he vanished into golden light. After that, I kept seeing him, though he never directly interacted with me after that. I thought I was nuts.”

  
The witch tilted his head, processing the story. Declan glanced over at Logan. “What about you, Skeptic?”

  
Logan sighed, adjusted his glasses. “My tale is not a dramatic as Virgils’s-”

  
“-You were in a fire, how is that not dramatic-”

  
“-AHEM.” Logan shot a glare at Virgil, who shrugged innocently. “I was eighteen, and in deep sleep when my father set the house on fire with his horrendous cooking. We had taken the batteries out of fire alarms because the batteries need to be replaced. It was our horrible luck, that the one night the alarm did not have batteries, that the house caught fire. The flames spread quickly through my house, and I managed to continue sleeping. My father tried to get to me, but the fire department pulled him out of the fire. I should have died that night.”

  
The witch leaned his head against his hand. “But you didn’t?”

  
“Obviously. I awoke outside, in a stranger's arms. He told me my house was on fire and he pulled me out. I thought he was a firefighter, at first. After he set me down, I noticed his lack of equipment and the white wings and the golden eyes. He simply winked at me and disappeared. At the time I chalked it up to the smoke affecting my thought processes, but then the mugging occurred.”

  
Declan let out a low whistle. “Fires, Assaults and Muggings, oh my.”

  
“L and I were college roommates who decided to rent an apartment together our second year. A couple of weeks back, we went grocery shopping because we managed to use up all the coffee, and our back-up supplies. On our way back, we were cornered. Some older guy with a gun. I started having a panic attack and Logan was trying to talk sense into the guy when the boy showed up.”

  
“He wore a red hoodie covering his face and most of his body.” Logan continued where Virgil left off. “I am not aware of what he did because I was attempting to calm Virgil. When I looked back, the guy who was trying to mug us had vanished, the gun was on the floor and the hooded figure was watching us. I thanked him for his assistance. He gave me a smile, and his hood lifted enough so that I could see his eyes.”

  
“Golden eyes.” Virgil finished. “He vanished in front of our eyes, leaving behind a single white feather. Ever since we’ve been finding white feathers all over our apartment and golden lights floating around at nights. It got to the point where we talked about it and decided there was no normal explanation for what was happening to us. So Logan looked up psychics in our area and your website came up and well, here we are.”

  
The witch was silence for a few moments, fiddling with the pin on his cloak. “Well, good news and bad news. Bad news: you’re being haunted! Good news: it’s not my department.”

  
Virgil tensed up next to Logan. “Oh god, oh god we’re actually being haunted-”

  
Logan turned to Virgil, finally gripping his hands. “Vee, I need you to breathe, okay? In for four, hold for seven and out for eight, remember? Just like Picani taught you.”

  
Virgil closed his eyes, matching Logan’s breathing. “Okay. I’m okay.”

  
Logan glared at Declan.”If you are playing us, I will not appreciate it.”

The witch scoffed. “I would get nothing out of tricking you.”

  
“Then what do you mean by, ‘Not my department?’”

  
“I work with wicked spirits. Those who stay on Earth for vengeance, our those who are too stubborn to move on. My fiance works with kinder spirits. Beings that are sent to protect, or want to look over their loved ones from beyond the grave. One second.” Declan tilted his head upwards and shouted. “Patton!”

  
Very faintly, a voice replied, “I’m coming!”

  
While they waited for Declan’s fiance, Logan turned to Virgil. “Are you alright? Remember, we can always leave if you become uncomfortable.”

  
“I’m okay now. Besides, Declan said that the spirit that is haunting us is probably a kind one. And I’m really curious about what he means.”

  
“Okay. You will tell me if that changes, correct?”

  
“Of course I will, Lo.”

  
Suddenly, the door swung open, and a cheerful voice rang out, “Dee, the lavender finally bloomed and now I can make the shortbread cookies with them!” 

  
The voice belonged to a man who seemed to radiate sunshine. He winced at the darkness of the room. “Sweetheart, I’ve told you that you need sunlight in here. You’re going to hurt your eyes!” 

  
Declan sighed as the other crossed the room to open the curtains. “Dear, my eyesight is fine-”

  
The man opened the curtains anyway. Sunlight poured into the room, revealing the other man’s soft features. His dark skin almost gleamed in the light and his eyes were a shade of blue a bit too vivid. The man looked like he had been outside, wearing rolled up, dirt-stained jeans and a light blue sweatshirt. He was lacking shoes, but a series of anklets, all with dangling charms, replaced them. “Oh, you have clients! Hi, I’m Patton!”

  
Logan blinked. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Logan. This is Virgil.”

  
Patton turned to Declan, “If you have clients, why did you need me?”

  
“Maybe I just wanted to see your pretty face.”

  
“Ah, babe, do you have a crush on me?”

  
Declan rolled his eyes, something oddly fond in his multicolored eyes. “Well, these two have a spirit problem that’s not something I’m equipped for.”   
As his fiance told him Logan and Virgil’s story, Patton seemed to visibly brighten. When Declan was done, the other witch clapped his hands excitedly. ”Oh, soulmates! I love soulmate stories!”

  
If Logan had been drinking anything, he would have spat the drink out in shock. Virgil’s already pale face had managed to get paler. “Soulmates?”

  
“Yup!” Patton sat down on Declan’s lap, waving his hands around excitedly. “Your spirit is actually a guardian angel!”

  
“Angel. Like heavenly angels? White robes and golden lyres angels?”

  
“Not exactly. You see, guardian angels aren’t like that. A guardian angel is the spirit of someone who died before they met their soulmate. Or soulmates! They spend their soulmate’s life watching over their shoulder and they intervene when necessary to protect their beloved. Most of the time, the guardian is invisible to all. But when their soulmates are in danger, the guardian’s soulmates can see them. In rare situations, they can reveal themselves to others.”

  
“Both Virgil and I can see this guardian angel. Who’s guardian is he?” 

  
Patton giggled, “All three of you are soulmates, silly!”

  
Suddenly, Logan and Virgil were fascinated with two plants on opposite sides of Declan’s office, cheeks burning impressive shades of red. Patton looked up at Declan. “Was that too sudden?”

  
“_Definitely _not.”

  
“So I really overstepped their boundaries.” Patton sighed his shoulder’s sagging. Suddenly, a genius idea formed in his mind. “Would you like to talk to him?”

  
That gathered the embarrassed gays' attention. “We can speak our guardian angel?”

  
“Well, not exactly speak. He doesn’t have a true corporeal form. That would take a much more complicated spell. But, I can get in contact with him though, quite easily. It’s part of my magic!” Patton bounced up from his fiance's lap. “Follow me!”

  
Patton’s office was nothing like Declan’s. Large windows brought endless sunlight into the room. Suncatchers turned the light into a rainbow of colors melting against the white walls. Plants grew like crazy on every free surface. There was no desk; instead, a mountain of soft pillows and blankets laid in the center of the room. Patton ignored everything, heading straight for a large mirror on the opposite side of the room. He began to drag the mirror towards the pillow mountain, but Declan stepped over and picked it up for him. The other witch gave him a soft smile, then walked over to a cabinet with an impressive collection of flowers growing on top. Patton pulled out a spray bottle, golden string and a collection of markers before walking over to where Declan had placed the mirror.

  
“Can you spray this, sweetie?” Patton asked, handing his lover the bottle. Declan took it with a nod and began to spray something that smelled distinctly like roses. Patton dropped the markers next to the mirror, then gestured for the very confused humans to come over to him. The witch waved the string around. “I need to bind your wrists to mine. He’s your soulmate, so the connection with you will make summoning him easier.”

  
“Kinky.” 

  
Patton flushed, turning to glare at his fiance. “You and I both know that’s not the point!”

"Right, the bondage k-”

  
“Declan!” Patton admonished, face managed to be redder than both Logan and Virgil’s. 

  
“I’m just teasing, dear. Maybe I’ve been spending too much of my time with Remus.” The witch looked made eye contact with Virgil and shrugged. “It truly is nothing sexual.”

  
“Declan Ethan Drake!”

  
A barking laugh escaped Declan’s throat. “Alright, alright, I’m finished.”

  
“Somehow, I don’t believe you,” Logan commented.

  
Patton recovered from the heat on his cheeks. He tied the golden ribbon around his own wrists, leaving long sections loose for Virgil and Logan to tie themselves in. Logan didn’t hesitate, his burning curiosity overwhelming his previous skeptical thoughts. Virgil stood still, staring at the gold in his hands. Logan turned to face him, eyes impossibly soft. “We can still leave if you are uncomfortable, Vee. The offer still stands. It always does.”

  
Virgil closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “We’re knee-deep in this now. I’d rather get an ending to this, instead of questioning it for the rest of my life. Besides,” Virgil’s cheek’s managed to become slightly pinker. “I feel like I need to thank him.”

  
He bent down next to Patton and tied the string around his wrist. Patton rested his bound hands on the mirror and began to whisper in a language neither Logan or Virgil knew. Each word was filled with magic and something not meant for mortal minds to comprehend. As Patton continued his chanting, the room grew warm. The mirror began to glow a soft gold- a familiar gold. A gold that belonged to warm eyes. As Patton finished his chant, the glow became blinding. When the glow faded, it looked like nothing had changed. The room still felt warm, but other than that, nothing had changed. 

  
Patton seemed to think otherwise. He looked directly into the mirror, and asked, “Is the guardian of these two mortals here?”

  
Nothing, for an entire ten seconds. Then, the red marker floated upwards and began to write across the mirror’s surface: YES.

  
Virgil’s eyes grew wide, and Logan suddenly wasn’t a skeptic anymore. 

  
“Hi! I’m Patton. These are your soulmates, Virgil and Logan!”

  
Patton still didn’t understand the concept of subtlety, it seemed. Declan let out a little chuckle at the mortal’s blushing faces before his eyes returned to his fiance

  
I KNOW. HELLO STORMCLOUD. HELLO STARLIGHT.

  
“Ah, that’s so cute!” Patton turned to Logan, then Virgil. “You two can talk to him, you know! The bind connects you to my magic.”

  
Virgil was the first to gather his courage. “Hi. Wow. You're real. I’m not crazy.”

  
CRAZY BEAUTIFUL, MAYBE.

  
Virgil let out some sort of cat-like hissing noise and buried his face into his hoodie sleeve.

  
Logan snorted at the other, before turning his attention to the mirror. “Hello. May I ask your name? It feels wrong to not have something to call you.”

  
ROMAN. MY NAME IS ROMAN.

  
Declan took in a sharp breath, stealing the room’s attention. “Sorry.” He said his voice without an ounce of sympathy. “It can’t be him. The world ain’t that small.”  
Virgil looked up at the witch, eyes narrowed and disbelieving. Declan stared back, his mitch matched eyes showing no signs of explaining what he’d meant. Their stand-off ended when Logan asked a question to the guardian, stealing Virgil’s attention. 

  
“So, you’re deceased?” 

  
YES. FOR A LITTLE OVER HALF A DECADE

  
“Five years?” Virgil whispered, a new form of disbelief in his eyes. “Have you been watching us for that long?”

  
YES. YOU BOTH HAVE DONE INCREDIBLE THINGS. IT'S AN HONOR TO BE YOUR GUARDIAN.

  
Virgil opened his mouth to respond, but Patton let out a small hiss of pain before he could. 

  
‘Sorry,” The witch apologized. “I forgot how much energy this takes. I’m really sorry, but I’m not going to be able to keep the link open much longer.”  
“Oh,” Logan mumbled. 

  
THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME TALK TO THEM. STORMCLOUD, STARLIGHT- I LOVE YOU.

  
The mirror glowed again, and when the glow faded, the marker was leaning against the mirror, unmoving. The red words were still scrawled across the glass, but they had begun to fade too. 

  
Patton careful unbound the ribbon connecting him to the mortals. As soon as they were free, Virgil sagged into Logan, who carefully wrapped his arms around the other. Neither of them felt right at that moment. Neither of them felt whole. 

  
“Can we see him?”

  
“I can probably do the spell again! Just I need to rest up and enchant the marker again.” Patton explained as Declan helped him stand.

  
“I believe Virgil was referring to seeing Roman face-to-face,” Logan said, rubbing his friend’s back as the other managed to keep his breathing under control.

  
“No-”

  
“Yes-”

  
The witches stared at each other, obviously not expecting the other to contradict them. Patton let out a soft sigh and pulled Declan to the opposite side of the room. A quick spell left his mouth, and suddenly, they were in their own little bubble. The mortals couldn’t hear them, and they couldn’t hear the mortals. As soon as the barrier was in place, Declan ran a hand through his hair.

  
“Patton, we cannot-”

  
“-why not? It’s for love!”

"It’s a complicated and dangerous spell! The spell would be difficult for us, and these two aren’t even magic! I would not like deaths on my hands.” Declan argued.

"Would you do it for me?”

  
“What does that have to do with anything?”

  
Patton sighed again, grabbing his fiance's hand. “Would you?”

  
“Of course I would love. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. No spell I wouldn’t try, no law I wouldn’t break for you.”

  
“And I would always do it for you. So doesn’t that make us hypocrites?”

  
“We have magic. They do not!”

"If we guide them through it, they’ll have a good shot.”

  
Declan’s shoulders sagged, “You’ll never let this go, will you?”

  
“Probably not.” Patton agreed.

  
“If something happens to them, I refuse to take the blame for it. It’s all on you.”

  
Patton swallowed the invisible lump growing in his throat. “I know.”

  
With that said, Patton let go of Declan's hands and dissolved their bubble. Virgil was no longer in Logan’s arms, but they were both sitting on the pile of cushions. 

  
“There is a spell.” Patton began. “That would always him to walk the Earth again with you.”

  
“Like a zombie?” Virgil wrinkled his nose.

  
“The spell hasn’t turned anyone into a zombie. At least, not yet.” Declan said.

  
“And there’s no chance that it will.” Patton quickly said, noticing the spark of panic in Virgil’s eyes. “It’s a difficult spell, mostly because some of the ingredients are unstable when used incorrectly and the spell can only be performed at sunrise on All Hallow’s Eve.”

  
Virgil’s eyes brightened visibly. “Halloween?”

  
Declan wrinkled his nose. “ All Hallow’s Eve.”

  
“He’s sensitive about that,” Patton said, pulling out his phone from a pocket in his sweatshirt. He clicked and scrolled until he found what he wanted. “Alright! What you’ll need. A binding string- you can use the ribbon from earlier. This chant, which I’ll write down for you. Some herbs and crystals- lily for healing, hibiscus for love, angelitic for the connection to your guardian angel, rose quartz for divine love- we have all this, and we can give it to you!”

  
“We can sell it to you.” Declan corrected. 

  
Patton’s shoulders slumped slightly. “But-”

  
“We have a business to run, honey.”

  
“We will purchase the materials needed.” Logan interrupted. “Your finance is being quite reasonable.”

  
“See, Patton?”

  
The other witch sighed, returning to his list. “Well, surprisingly, I think we’re out of uncharged clear quartz crystals. We wouldn’t want to give you something we already tampered with.”

  
“The natural store on Main Street sells quartz crystals,” Logan said.

  
Virgil turned to look at him. “How do you know that?”

  
Logan mumbled something under his breath, but sighed when he saw the look Virgil was giving him.”They sell bigger jars of Crofter’s there.”  
“Of course. What else was I expecting?”

  
“So you got that taken care of! You’ll want mint, but fresh mint is better than anything dried or store-bought.”

  
“Mrs. Hazelbrook grows mint.”

  
“We are not stealing from our elderly neighbor’s window boxes.”

  
“She’s a raging homophobe, and actively hates us, Logan. Why not?”

  
Logan paused to consider. “Actually, stealing from her sounds like a gr-”

  
“-anyway! You need- Oh. this might be hard.” Patton said, narrowing his eyes at his screen. 

  
“What is it?” Virgil asked.

“Dirt from the deceased’s grave.”

  
Logan looked up at Patton, startled, and Virgil turned violently pale.

  
“How-”

  
“-isn’t that illegal-”

  
“-we don’t know a single detail of his death-”

  
“-oh god we’re going to get arrested-”

  
“-so many deaths per year, we do not even know the country-”

  
“Boys!” Patton shouted, interrupting both mortals. “It won’t be that hard! Most soulmates end up close to each other, so it won’t be that hard! Plus, Roman is a pretty uncommon name, plus you know he died about five years ago. He is also close in age with you two because that’s how the magic works.”

  
“Plus, it’s only grave dirt. At least this spell doesn’t require, for say, a finger bone of a long-dead witch.”

  
Virgil stared at Declan. “What?”

  
Patton kicked his finance in the ankle. “Nothing! If you follow us, we can get you what you’ll need.”

  
Logan stood, offering his hand to help Virgil up. “Are you ready?”

  
Virgil took his hand. “As I’ll ever be.”

  
\-------

  
Virgil slumped against the couch, glaring at the psychology textbook in his lap. The words had started to scramble in his brain, and his focus was gone out of the window. Logan was laying on the outside of the couch, and their legs tangled together in the middle. His roommate/best friend/apparent soulmate/repressed crush was staring at his laptop, eyes focused on whatever he was reading. Virgil relaxed into the couch, pulling out his phone and beginning to scroll through Tumblr. 

  
A few minutes later, Logan kicked Virgil, getting the other’s attention. “Hmm?”

  
“I think I found him.” Logan spun his laptop around, showing the page he’d been reading to Virgil. 

_****Roman C. Aurum,15, passed away on Friday, becoming the fifth dead victim of the deadly fire at Champion High School. The cause of the fire has been determined to be a wiring error. _ _Roman was a member of the sophomore class of 2016 and was an active participant in the drama department, and a starter for the boy’s tennis team. He is survived by his twin brother, Remus Aurum, and his mother Lupia Aurum. The memorial service for all the victims is yet to be determined, but Roman will be buried next to his late father, Theodore Aurum, in the Adlus Gian Cemetery._

“The data matches what Patton told us. Roman would be around our age, and Adlus Gian Cemetery and the town around it is only an hour from here.”

  
Something dark and ugly formed in Virgil’s chest. “When Patton told me he’d died, I’d assumed he meant something natural. Sickness. Maybe just dying in his sleep. Not-not that.”

  
Logan nodded, his eyes downcast.”It’s tragic. If it hadn’t been for a single sparked wire, we could have met him without this whole magic business.”

  
Virgil nodded, and the apartment grew quiet, the air hung with sadness. Virgil glanced over at the clock. It was five thirty-two in the afternoon. 

  
“You said it was only an hour away?” Virgil asked, voice soft, unwilling to move away from the heaviness weighing on his heart. 

  
“Indeed.” Logan’s voice was just as tender. “We should go tonight. Halloween- or All Hallow’s Eve as Declan called it- is only two days away. It took a little longer than I thought it would to locate everything.”

  
Both of them glanced over to box on their coffee table, which contained everything from the crystals they’d been given to the mint they’d taken from their horrid neighbor. All they needed was the grave dirt and the sunrise of October 31st. 

  
Logan pushed his laptop onto the coffee table, and when he stood from the couch, he stretched. “I will go start the car. Can you get the glass jar and everything else?”  
Virgil nodded, getting up from the couch and walking into the kitchen. Declan and Patton had been very clear when they’d said to store the dirt in a glass jar. Glass prevented the dirt from being contaminated. Did Virgil know what that meant? No, but he trusted the witches with their magic. Besides, it wasn’t like they didn’t have an abundance of glass jars, a product of Logan’s jam addiction. 

  
Virgil picked up the empty jar of Crofters, slipped on his coat, grabbed the bag hanging next to it, and met Logan in the car they shared. The drive was quiet, for the most part. Then Logan opened his mouth. 

  
“There is an aspect of this we haven’t discussed.”

  
Virgil glanced over at him, confused. What had they missed? They had discussed with the witches about what they should they do after they brought back Roman. Declan was in the process of getting Roman legal paperwork. (How Virgil didn’t know, but that was another thing for the witches to know and the mortals do not.) They, Roman would decide what he wanted to do for himself, but Logan and Virgil would offer their apartment to him if he wanted it.   
(It didn’t matter than Virgil wanted him to stay. It didn’t matter if Logan did either-)

  
“If we are both Roman’s soulmate, that makes us soulmates as well.”

  
Oh. Right. That.

  
Virgil shifted in his seat. “I guess you’re right.”

  
“Does that make you uncomfortable? If so, we don’t have to talk about it.”

  
Virgil sighed, glancing over at Logan. The other was still forced on the road, eyes narrowed but shoulder’s tense. 

  
“It doesn’t. I kinda feel the opposite about it?”

  
Logan grabbed the steering wheel tighter as he made a turn. “Can you clarify what you mean?”

  
“Well, we were meant to be with each other. It makes sense. For the past two years, I’ve stuck by your side because it always felt right. You felt like someone I could trust. You felt safe.” Virgil sighed again, laying back into the seat. “I let you in, and I really wasn’t sure why. Then, I realized I never wanted a life without you. And now I know why.”

  
There was something else behind the words, something soft and fragile and started with an L. Virgil had never been good with feelings; neither was Logan. But, nothing less than a miracle, Logan seemed to get at what Virgil was saying. 

  
“I feel the same,” Logan said, almost too quiet for Virgil to hear. “You mean the universe to me.”

  
Virgil smiled slightly, something bright and warm forcing its way through the gloom. He had Logan. He had his best friend, his soulmate, who knew how Virgil felt and didn’t deny him

  
Now, just to get the last missing piece. 

  
Logan pulled over, and in the dusk light, Virgil saw the old sign marking that they were at the cemetery. He picked up the bag at his feet and pulled out two necklaces and two white candles. 

  
“The silver jewelry to keep the spirits from hurting us, and the candles to guide the way without drawing much attention,” Virgil mumbled, slipping the necklace around his head. Declan warned that as soon as they had the grave dirt, any spirits in the graveyard would be drawn to them. Some would be harmless, but it was more likely than not that the ghosts might harass them. 

  
Logan took his necklace and candle, slipped out of the car. Virgil followed. The cemetery was abandoned, except for a middle-aged woman leaving with teary eyes. Logan pulled out a tissue from his pocket and offered it to her. 

  
“Oh! Thank you!” The lady accepted the tissue, dabbing at her eyes. “It’s been a night. Anniversary of my husband’s death. Had to see my son’s grave while I was there, so-”

  
-you don’t need to explain,” Virgil said, shifting uncomfortably in his hoodie. 

  
“Right, sorry.” The lady gave a shaky smile. “Shouldn’t overshare with strangers. Thank you again for the tissue. I should be on my way, however. I hope you have a good night, and I’m sorry for whoever you lost.”

  
The lady left, leaving them standing in front of the gates. The two stood silently as an engine rumbled and she drove away. “Ready?”

  
Virgil pulled out the matches, striking one against the side of the box. The little flame danced in the wind, flickering uncertainty. When the candles were lit, Vigil nodded. “Let’s get this bread.”

  
“We are looking for a grave.”

  
“It's a mem- you know, I swear you do this just to fuck with me sometimes. Come on.” Virgil stepped over the threshold, into the cemetery. Logan followed him. Their candles didn’t do much for fending off the darkness, but it helped them see epitaphs. Their feet crunched against the gravel, and if their free hands found each other, neither of them said a word

  
“I found it,” Logan said, kneeling down next to the grave. Fresh flowers -roses and baby’s breath, a bouquet you’d give an actor after opening night- laid on top of the grave. Virgil knelt down, handing Logan his candle, and pulling the jar from his pocket. Careful not to disturb the flowers, Virgil dug into the ground, pulling away the grass and getting grit under his fingernails. Soon, he was filling the jar with dark dirt and standing. Logan held out his candle, wordlessly. They knew better than to speak now. The jar was now a beacon for the supernatural, and they didn’t need anything else to give them away. 

  
Virgil took the candle and began to walk forward. He kept his eyes down, focusing on where the light hit the ground. It’s one step in front of the other, now. 

  
Step, step.

  
Ignore the gurgling noise in his ear.

  
Step, step.

  
Ignore the feeling of cold fingers running down his back.

  
Step, step.

  
Ignore the terrified scream in the distance.

  
Step, step. 

  
Remember that everything is not real. All the noises are fake. All the touches are fake.

  
Step, step. 

  
Ignore the shadows flickering into the candlelight.

  
Step, step.

  
Ignore whatever is pulling on his jacket.

  
Step, step.

  
It’s pulling harder.

  
Step, step.

  
Turn around-

  
Virgil screamed and dropped his candle, staring back at the gruesome apparition in front of him. A ghostly woman grinned at him, blood dripping from her teeth onto a white nightgown. One of her eyes had been ripped from her face completely, and the other dragged from its optic nerve. More blood stained her hair and her hands, and one of those bloodstained hands reached for him again-

  
Logan pulled his other arm, pulling from through the gate, and into the grass outside the cemetery. Virgil crashed into him, grabbing Logan like he was his only anchor. Logan held him tight, refusing to let him go. 

  
And, well, if their lips met under the moonlight, who was going to say a word about it?

  
\-------

  
“I can't believe we’re actually doing this.”

  
Logan glanced over at Virgil, whose features were illuminated by the predawn light. “It is a bit insane.”

  
“Less than a month ago,” Virgil mused, placing down the final pink crystal in the design Patton had sketched for them. “We didn’t even realize how much we didn’t know. Now, we’re getting our soulmate back. Back from the dead.”

  
“If you told your therapist about this, how would he react?”

  
“Emile would probably think that I had gotten the story from a cartoon and ask me what show it was from. Though, if I kept insisting I was telling the truth, he’d get worried. Probably switch my meds.”

  
“I wouldn’t blame him. Our story is preposterous. I wouldn’t believe it if I wasn’t a part of it.”

  
A grin that was almost wicked formed on Virgil’s face. “So, you’re no longer a skeptic?”

  
“I witnessed Patton summon Roman’s spirit. I watched our guardian angel write to us using a mirror. I had to pull you away from a ghost in the graveyard. I believe I have been shown enough proof to believe in the supernatural.”

  
“I never thought I would see the day. Logan Cosmos, man of science, admits to believing in magic.”

  
Logan swatted at Virgil, who effortlessly dodged his attempt. “It’s almost dawn. It’s time.”

  
Virgil’s expression became serious as he came to sit across from Logan. “Alright. You have the herbs?”

Logan pulled the plants out of his pocket, making sure he had them all. Carnations, hibiscus, honeysuckle, lily, and the stolen mint- all five were there. He glanced over as Virgil pulled out a matchbox. “The spell said to burn the herbs and allow them to keep burning as we do everything else?”  
“Indeed. You have a jar?”

  
Virgil pulled out another empty Crofter’s jar. Logan spilled all the herbs into the jar, and Virgil struck the match. As soon as he set flame to the first plant, the others began to catch. The clearing they were sitting in began to smell sweet.

  
As Virgil blew out the flame, Logan tried to remember the next step. “Next we pour the dirt over the quartz?”

  
“Yeah.” Virgil turned around to get the dirt they’d stolen from Roman’s grave. He threw the lid aside, and dumped the dirt over, covering the crystal. 

  
As the sky began to brighten, Logan pulled out the same golden ribbon Patton had once bond the three of them together with. It was surprisingly difficult to tie them together, and Logan found himself wishing that one of the witches were there to help them.   
  
But Logan knew it had to be him and Virgil alone at this moment.

  
“Now, rest our hands in the dirt and say the chant three times as the sun rises over the horizon,” Virgil remembered, looking down at the paper in his lap. The chant had originally been written in Patton’s chicken scratch handwriting, but Declan had rewritten it for them. 

  
Soon enough, the first rays of sunlight peered from the trees. Logan brought down his hands into the dirt, bringing Virgil’s down with him.“Ready?”

  
“On the count of three?”

  
“One.”

  
“Two.”

  
“Three.”

  
In unison, Virgil and Logan began to chant, “Roman, come to us now and bring your heart.”

  
As soon as the words left their mouth, warmth began to fill Logan’s chest. From underneath the dirt, something started to glow red- the quartz crystal. The air began to feel thick and soupy. 

  
A gasp escaped Virgil’s mouth. Logan threaded his fingers through his soulmate’s, anchoring them both. They made eye contact and said it again. “Roman, come to us now and bring your heart.”

  
The crystal was burning bright now, a beacon through the dirt. The ribbon binding Logan and Virgil began to burn, red hot and bordering on painful. Logan shut his eyes, fighting off the pain. Was it supposed to hurt?

  
Virgil began to squeeze their hands together in a pattern that was meant to ground them. Something tore through Logan’s hair and nearly knocked off his glasses. He opened his eyes with a gasp- the air which had been soupy moments before had formed a glowing gold tornado around them, separating them from the outside world. 

  
Cold grew in Logan’s gut, fighting the growing warmth in his chest. Had they done the spell wrong? Should they stop?

  
Wait, no. Patton had warned them that there was nothing more dangerous than an unfinished spell. Logan squeezed Virgil’s hands once, then twice, then three times. Lucky, the other seemed to get the message.

  
“Roman, come to us now and bring your heart.”

  
Everything stopped. The glowing tornado stopped spinning and the beaconing crystal stopped glowing and the burning ribbon stopped hurting. Everything was silent.

  
Then the clearing went supernova. 

  
\---

  
“Dear, please stop fidgeting.”

  
Patton glanced over at his husband- his husband!!- with a sheepishly smile. “Sorry. I’m just nervous. They’re usually on time.”

  
“They’re probably just running a bit late.”

  
“Wouldn’t they have messaged us?”

  
Declan reached across the table, squeezing Patton’s hands. “Logan had a book signing in Seattle today, correct?”

  
“Yeah…”

  
“So wouldn't it make sense that they are driving here now?”

  
Patton’s shoulders slumped. “You’re right.”

  
“I always am.”

  
“I just worry about them sometimes.”

  
“Sometimes?”

  
“Okay, maybe it’s like most of the time.” 

  
Declan sighed, loosen his grip on Patton’s hand to push the other’s hot chocolate at him. “They’re okay. Now drink up. It should be cool enough for you to not burn your tongue on it.”

  
“That only happened once!”

  
“One time too many.”

  
As Patton stuck his tongue out at him, Declan took a sip of his tea, grimacing slightly. 

  
“What’s wrong, honey?”

  
“It’s not as good as your tea.”

  
“That's because it hasn’t been blessed with my love!” Patton said.

  
“Or,” Declan countered. “It’s simply because mortals don’t understand how to properly make tea.”

  
“No, it’s because it wasn’t blessed with love!”

  
Declan rolled his eyes, then got distracted by the doorbell above the shop’s door. “Why do we have to meet them at this cafe? Why not just have them at the house?”

  
“Because you need to get out more! You can’t stay at home all your life!” Patton argued.

  
“Or. Counterpoint. I definitely could. I go outside to work in the garden, and taking care of the property is all the exercise I will ever need. I eat well, courtesy of being married to the best chef with magic. And I get all the socialization I need between meeting with your new adoptees and our clients. Checkmate.”

  
Patton tried to look cross, but when he met Declan’s eyes, all he could do was laugh. ‘That's not fair. Doesn’t count.”

  
“It seems you forgot I was the president in the debate club in both high school and college.” Declan waved his finger in Patton’s face, letting out a snort at home cute his husband looked, giggling with a bit of whipped on his nose-

  
“Hate to interrupt your lover’s banter-“ A familiar voice said. Declan looked up and Patton gasped. 

  
“Vee!” Declan snorted again as Patton nearly tackled Virgil. The mortal grabbed the table to steady himself as the witch smothered him with love. “Oh, it’s so good to see you! Where’s Logan! Where’s-“

  
“I’m right here, Patton.” Logan appeared from behind Virgil, holding two drinks. He handed Virgil a coffee and received a kiss on the cheek from his soulmate in response. Then, he received his own bear hug from Patton. 

  
As soon as Patton detached himself from Logan, he began to bounce on his heels. “Where is he?!”

  
“I’m assuming you mean me?” From behind Logan, another figure appeared. He gave a bright grin and for a second, the contacts he wore didn’t hide the bright gold of his eyes.

  
“I’m guessing you’re Patton and Declan.” Roman Aurum said, gripping Virgil’s hand and leaning back to rest his head on Logan’s shoulder. “And it seems I have to thank you for bringing me back to my soulmates.”


End file.
